How bad is it to leave for an interview?

[chickensoupdr]

I'm considering doing month-long away rotations during the months of October/November... If I were to get an interview from another place, would missing a day or two at my away rotation be frowned upon? How do y'all go about this?

Thanks in advance!

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[IMreshopeful]

I'm considering doing month-long away rotations during the months of October/November... If I were to get an interview from another place, would missing a day or two at my away rotation be frowned upon? How do y'all go about this?

Thanks in advance!

What specialty
Why are the aways so late

 

[chickensoupdr]

Internal Medicine. I am aiming to get aways no later than in October, but seeing how most of the spots are filled up already, I'm worried will be stuck with a November away and have to miss some days for interviews.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

I assume these away rotations are at places that you're interested in attending residency programs?

Think of it from their perspective. If you're seriously interested in their program you should make the most of your time there. They'll probably understand if you have an interview or two during the month, but if you're requesting days off every week for interviews at other places it could reflect poorly on you. It's just natural for people to notice things like that.

You go about it by ideally doing 'audition' rotations during months where you wouldn't have interviews.

 

[DarkHorizon]

I assume these away rotations are at places that you're interested in attending residency programs?

Think of it from their perspective. If you're seriously interested in their program you should make the most of your time there. They'll probably understand if you have an interview or two during the month, but if you're requesting days off every week for interviews at other places it could reflect poorly on you. It's just natural for people to notice things like that.

You go about it by ideally doing 'audition' rotations during months where you wouldn't have interviews.

I understand what you’re saying, it would reflect poorly if you take excessive time off, but if you have interviews, we understand.

At my institution, we can gauge fairly quickly if you’re gonna be a good fit. We want you to work hard and be present, but also don’t want to hold you back when it comes to match. It is totally fine to go on interviews while on audition. Just make the most of your time when you’re present. Also, don’t be taking a week off for an interview, two days usually do.

 

[ortnakas]

I had to take a few days off for interviews for IM last year and it wasn’t a big deal. Obviously, offer to make up the missed days on weekends and try to minimize it, but programs understand that there’s overlap between audition season and interview season.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

I understand what you’re saying, it would reflect poorly if you take excessive time off, but if you have interviews, we understand.

At my institution, we can gauge fairly quickly if you’re gonna be a good fit. We want you to work hard and be present, but also don’t want to hold you back when it comes to match. It is totally fine to go on interviews while on audition. Just make the most of your time when you’re present. Also, don’t be taking a week off for an interview, two days usually do.

Absolutely. I'm on the same page.

However, I also know residents who would explicitly point out that 'x' auditioner was away for 2-3 days ever week while 'y' and 'z' auditioner wasn't. In a perfect world it wouldn't matter but in reality it does to some. I hardly think that one or two interviews during a month would make a difference but I do think that more than three would be noticed by people who might wonder where you were.

But as to the initial question, I think we pretty much unanimously agree that missing a couple days during the month for interviews is fine. Just don't take it overboard.

 

[IMreshopeful]

Internal Medicine. I am aiming to get aways no later than in October, but seeing how most of the spots are filled up already, I'm worried will be stuck with a November away and have to miss some days for interviews.

It’s not ideal to take off a lot for interviews but a couple of days is no big deal as long as you let them know.

Also as I’m sure you’ve been told the utility of away rotations in IM is not as robust as that for many other specialties. In some like EM they’re basicslly required. It’s not clear that they do a whole lot to get your application a better read. However if you want to do it to see if you like a place that’s another story.

 

[DBV]

I would not do aways unless you are especially tied to the location. The advice I got from my home PD was that more people look bad on aways than look good and she rarely knows that they exist while there. This and the fact the aways are not necessary for IM and you'll be doing it so late that interviews will have gone out by the time you get any formal evaluation would make me cancel it.

TL: DR- Aways in IM hurt more than help. You wont get helpful evaluations before interviews. Try and get it earlier or cancel it.

 

[Wolf3D]

I would not do aways unless you are especially tied to the location. The advice I got from my home PD was that more people look bad on aways than look good and she rarely knows that they exist while there. This and the fact the aways are not necessary for IM and you'll be doing it so late that interviews will have gone out by the time you get any formal evaluation would make me cancel it.

TL: DR- Aways in IM hurt more than help. You wont get helpful evaluations before interviews. Try and get it earlier or cancel it.

This. OP, why are you even doing an away in IM? Nobody I knew in med school did this and to my knowledge, the students at my current institution don't do aways for IM either